#takashi toyoda

[sonadowwiki]

The Differences Between SEGA of Japan and SEGA of America/Europe (Part 1)

On this page, we will talk about the difference between SEGA of Japan and SEGA of America/Europe; the difference between Japanese SEGA and English SEGA. Please be sure to read through all the text for a complete understanding of the topic.

An often misconception made throughout the whole Sonic the Hedgehog community is that Japan and Western SEGA are the same or share the same views. Although both are SEGA, SEGA America and SEGA Europe are international branches of SEGA Japan. They do not inherently own the Sonic the Hedgehog series. SEGA Japan (or SEGA Sammy), who is the main branch, owns them. SEGA Japan and SEGA West can share very different opinions on the Sonic the Hedgehog series. Because of this, not all material from the English/West side of SEGA are canon or official and can't be seen to reflect the current outlook on things due to not being fully approved by the Japanese side of SEGA (the ones who truly own the series). Western SEGA is known to make decisions without Japan's full consent or with only Japan's initial consent on multiple occasions. Some examples of this are: Archie Comics, IDW Comics, Mobile Apps, Sonic Speed Simulator on Roblox and even posts on the official American Twitter accounts. For the mobile apps, they are looked over by HARDlight in Europe; they are part of the Western Europe branch of SEGA. Although Sonic Forces: Speed Battle was initially approved for creation by Takashi Iizuka, he did not overlook its development after approving its creation and he does not represent SEGA Japan's wishes. Therefore, it has been under the supervision of Western SEGA and does not always have the approval of both the Western and Japanese side of SEGA when decisions are made.

When responding to a fan about why the Japanese and English versions of the Sonic the Hedgehog content were so different from each other, Eitaro Toyoda of Sonic Team hinted that the Western side of SEGA has an agenda when translating or handling their content.

SEGA West often portrays the Sonic the Hedgehog characters very differently than SEGA Japan. One such major difference is in how they handle Shadow the Hedgehog. In English medias, Shadow is often portrayed in a very mean manner where he doesn't care about anyone but himself. Such examples of this are English created series like Sonic Boom and the IDW Comic series. English medias often portray Shadow more mean than usual on purpose to give the impression that Shadow is the type of person to be completely alone, someone who doesn't want to help anyone but himself, someone who hates everyone completely and someone who wants to kill people all the time. This can also be seen in the translations of things like the video games from Japanese to English.

Japan, on the other hand, makes Shadow more stoic and cold, but not completely mean. He is more robotic than the very angry person English medias portray him as. Though, even though Shadow is seen as a bit stand-offish, Sonic Team themselves have said that Shadow is kind and sweet. Eitaro Toyoda even mentioned that, "Shadow is not a bad guy by any means, but he's not completely good either… At any rate, I trust he will not act in a way that discourages us! :)" The reason for this can be derived from Shadow being a Tsundere type of person. Meaning, he is the type of person to deny anything nice he has done. An example of this behavior can be seen in the Sonic x Shadow July Calendar Story where he denies helping the people in the town for a good cause. Shadow is not the type to want credit for doing something good, but he is still an Anti-Hero who will do what he thinks is right if it means doing the right thing or creating the right results. This is often not portrayed correctly in English medias due to them making Shadow seem like a reckless person who will fight for what he thinks is right, even if it's completely wrong to do. Shadow has more morals than that and will not cross certain lines like hurting innocent people for no reason. In Sonic Battle, he even states that his desire is to bring hope to humanity. And since it is his desire to bring hope to humanity, him hurting humanity for no reason or for the fun of it doesn't make sense. Therefore, that characterization of Shadow is incorrect. Though an Anti-Hero, Shadow is still a hero and Japan often portrays that in their medias or when they have some control over some American medias like Sonic Prime's Season 2 Episode 1 and 8.

Another character that is often portrayed differently by SEGA West is Sonic the Hedgehog himself. There are many instances where Sonic is portrayed differently than what the Japanese originally portray him as. One such prime example is how Boom Sonic is shown to have complete fear of water compared to Modern Sonic who has a dislike for water, but doesn't fear it in Japanese medias. Another difference that can be easily seen is how Sonic is shown to be apathetic in most situations in English medias compared in Japanese medias. An example of this is how in Sonic Frontiers Sonic showed to not care about SAGE's death. This is not a normal occurrence for Sonic as he has shown to care about other character's deaths or similar like Chip going back to sleep in Sonic Unleashed, Shadow being thought to have died at the end of Sonic Adventure 2 and other emotional situations. Though despite this, Sonic has been shown to be quite apathetic in English medias or only care in sudden bursts of emotion for his friends at random points in time. Other differences are like how Prime Sonic is shown to be less smart and more touchy (physically wise) than Modern Sonic. Though the movie is from the English, the movie is overlooked heavily by Japanese officials for Movie Sonic to be more accurate to their view of Sonic or to how they want Movie Sonic to be. Because of this, even Movie Sonic shows some traits that Modern Sonic from Japanese medias show. One such trait is how Sonic doesn't like to be touched by people he is not comfortable with. In Movie Sonic's case, this would have been Movie Tails. At the time he first met Movie Tails, he wasn't comfortable with him hugging him. But Movie Sonic was comfortable with his family hugging him because he was more comfortable around them since he knew them longer and finds them family. This trait of Sonic being more physically touchy is usually seen in English medias like the IDW Comics, Sonic Prime and even Sonic Frontiers.

[Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (Movie) - Movie Tails hugs Movie Sonic]

In Japanese content such as Sonic Unleashed and Sonic Generations, you can see Sonic push away physical contact or see him feel very uncomfortable from the contact. It's a very stark difference between mostly English medias and Japanese medias. Though there are individuals that Modern Sonic is comfortable touching. Such examples are Tails, Knuckles and even Shadow back in Sonic Adventure 2 when they clasped hands after defeating the BioLizard/Final Hazard. For Tails and Knuckles, you can see him freely touch them in several medias. One such prime example is the calendar story pictures from 2021 where Sonic holds hands with Tails and sits on top of Knuckles' head. There's also Sonic Heroes where they often touch each other to move through the stages. He is also not bothered in touching people when it is necessary to save them, help them in some manner or make things go by quicker.

[Sonic x Tails 2021 Calendar Image from Sonic Team]

[Sonic x Knuckles Calendar Image from Sonic Team]

[Sonic Adventure 2 - Sonic and Shadow claps hands in victory after defeating the Final Hazard]

Though, there is one Japanese media that is exempted from this and that's Sonic X. The reason why this one has Sonic touching others a lot compared to other Japanese medias is due to who was in charge of Sonic Team at the time. The one in charge at the time was Yuji Naka. Yuji Naka can also be included in as one of the individuals who had an agenda while he was working for SEGA because his views are vastly different than those who work in Sonic Team today. He has left SEGA a long time ago in 2006 and was even proven to be a criminal in 2023 by admitting to participating in inside trading (JP news article) while working in Square Enix. Also, one of his policies in working with people was to dangle people's dreams in front of them to make them work well, but never allowing them to have it. Because of all of this, it is best not to take what he thought or says as anything official/canon anymore. This should especially be the case because Sonic Team's views have been shown to be very different and has changed drastically since Yuji Naka has been the head of Sonic Team.

Inside trading is the trading of a company’s securities by individuals with access to confidential or material non-public information about the company. Taking advantage of this privileged access is considered a breach of the individual’s fiduciary duty. [Cornell Law School]

Inside trading is an illegal offence that is more widely known as Leaks or Rumors to the general public. It is basically stealing confidential data within a company and giving it to others without permission. Many game companies go through this, including SEGA. Those who participate in leaks/rumors/inside trading are criminals who are stealing data from companies and are giving it to others illegally. What they are doing is against the law and can be punished by the law. The reasons why people do this vary, but most do this to invest in stocks to gain a profit from projects they believe will do well like Yuji Naka did in Square Enix. Other reasons can be to invest fans into something to make them buy the game to make more profit on it or not buy it to make less profit on it or to gain power and fame by giving out information before it is released for clout.

[Part 2]

[goalhofer]

2024 olympics Japan roster

Archery

Nakanishi Junya (Okayama)

Saito Fumiya (Gifu Ichi)

Furukawa Takaharu (Aomari Ichi)

Noda Satsuki (Kitakyushu)

Athletics

Higashida Akihiro (Nara)

Ota Tomoki (Hamamatsu)

Kasai Jun (Aichi)

Ogawa Daiki (Shizuoka)

Koyama Naoki (Saitama Ichi)

Hamanishi Ryo (Osaka)

Koga Yuta (Fukuoka)

Yamamoto Shouma (Osaka)

Nishi Yudai (Tokyo)

Yoshizu Takuho (Tokyo)

Takahashi Kazuki (Iwate)

Abdul Sani-Brown (Sakado)

Sakai Ryūichirō (Toyonaka)

Uzawa Towa (Miyagi)

Iizuka Shōta (Omaezaki)

Ueyama Koki (Matsusaka)

Satō Fūga (Tokyo)

Satō Kentarō (Tokorazawa)

Nakajika Yuki (Tokyo)

Izumiya Shunsuke (Yokohama)

Rachid Muratake (Matsuda)

Takayama Shun'ya (Hiroshima)

Tsutsue Kaito (Kumamoto)

Toyoda Ken (Tokyo)

Miura Ryūji (Hamada)

Aoki Ryōma (Kuki)

Akasaki Akira (Ōzu)

Ōsako Suguru (Machida)

Ikeda Kōki (Hamamatsu)

Kiryū Yoshihide (Hikone)

Yanagita Hiroki (Tokyo)

Kawabata Kaitō (Matsusaka)

Kawano Masatora (Hyūga)

Akamatsu Ryōichi (Gifu Ichi)

Shinno Tomohiro (Hiroshima)

Hashioka Yūki (Saitama)

Roderick Dean (Kobe)

Goshima Rino (Kanazawa)

Kokai Haruka (Myoko)

Morimoto Mariko (Osaka)

Tanaka Nozomi (Ono)

Goto Yume (Kakogawa)

Yamamoto Yuma (Nagoya)

Kabasawa Wakana (Maebashi)

Takashima Yuka (Hōfu)

Fukube Mako (Hiroshima)

Tanaka Yumi (Osaka)

Ichiyama Mao (Izumi)

Suzuki Yuka (Daisen)

Fujii Nanako (Nakagawa)

Okada Kumiko (Ageo)

Yanai Ayane (Fukuoka)

Hata Sumire (Yao)

Kitaguchi Haruka (Asahikawa)

Saitō Marina (Mito)

Ueda Momone (Itoshima)

Badminton

Kōdai Naraoka (Aomori Ichi)

Nishimoto Kenta (Ise)

Hoki Takurō (Yamaguchi Ichi)

Kobayashi Yūgo (Sendai)

Watanabe Yūta (Suginami)

Yamaguchi Akane (Katsuyama)

Ōhori Aya (Aizuwakamatsu)

Matsuyama Nami (Kitakyushu)

Shida Chiharu (Hachirōgata)

Matsumoto Mayu (Sapporo)

Nagahara Wakana (Akita Ichi)

Higashino Arisa (Iwamizawa)

Basketball

Yoshii Hirotaka (Osaka)

Togashi Yūki (Shibita)

Tajon Jacobs (Los Angeles, California)

Kawamura Yuki (Yanai)

Hiejima Makoto (Fukuoka)

Kai Toews (Kobe)

Hachimura Rui (Sendai)

Watanabe Yūta (Miki)

Yūdai Baba (Toyama Ichi)

Josh Hawkinson (Shoreline, Washington)

Keisei Tominaga (Tokyo)

Hugh Hogland-Watanabe (Honolulu, Hawaii)

Stephanie Mawuli (Nagoya)

Evelyn Mawuli (Nagoya)

Takada Maki (Toyohashi)

Yoshida Asami (Tokyo)

Machida Rui (Asahikawa)

Motohashi Nako (Asaka)

Yamamoto Mai (Hiroshima)

Hayashi Saki (Itoshima)

Miyazaki Saori (Saitama)

Miyazaki Yuki (Yokohama)

Todo Nanaka (Sapporo)

Akaho Himawari (Kanazawa)

Boxing

Harada Shudai (Tokyo)

Sewon Mensah-Okazawa (Kanoya)

Breakdancing

Ono Hiroto (Tokyo)

Nakarai Shigeyuki (Sapporo)

Yuasa Ami (Kawaguchi)

Fukushima Ayumi (Kyoto)

Canoeing

Tanaka Yuuki (Tokyo)

Haneda Takuya (Toyota)

Okazaki Haruka (Tokyo)

Yazawa Aki (Iida)

Climbing

Narasaki Tomoa (Utsunomiya)

Anraku Sorato (Yachiyo)

Mori Ai (Mito)

Nonaka Mihō (Tokyo)

Cycling

Arashiro Yukiya (Ishigaki)

Ōta Kaiya (Okayama)

Obara Yuta (Hashikami)

Nakano Shinji (Hanamaki)

Nagasako Yoshitaku (Kasaoka)

Imamura Shunsuke (Ukiha)

Hashimoto Eiya (Gifu Ichi)

Kuboki Kazushige (Furudono)

Nakamura Rimu (Kyoto)

Kawaguchi Urara (Hyogo)

Yonamine Eri (Osaka)

Sato Mina (Chigasaki)

Ōhta Riyu (Ageo)

Kakita Maho (Kitakyushu)

Ikeda Mizuki (Ōnojō)

Uchino Tsuyaka (Fukuoka)

Kajihara Yūmi (Saitama Ichi)

Hatakeyama Sae (Yokohama)

Diving

Shō Sakai (Sagamihara)

Tamai Rikuto (Takarazuka)

Mikami Sayaka (Yonaga)

Enomoto Haruka (Utsunomiya)

Arai Matsuri (Itami)

Equestrian

Kawai Mike (Valkenswaard, The Netherlands)

Ōiwa Yoshiaki (Münsingen, Germany)

Tomoto Kazuma (Motosu)

Kitajima Ryūzō (Kobe)

Tanaka Toshiyuki (Fukuoka)

Shibayama Haase-Takashi (Kobe)

Satō Eiken (Ogawa)

Sugitani Taizō (Izumi)

Fencing

Kanō Kōki (Ama)

Minobe Kazuyasu (Echizen)

Yamada Masaru (Toba)

Iimura Kazuki (Kyoto)

Matsuyama Kyōsuke (Tokyo)

Shikine Takahiro (Ōita Ichi)

Nagano Yūdai (Ibaraki)

Yoshida Kento (Morioka)

Yoshimura Miho (Tokyo)

Azuma Sera (Wakayama Ichi)

Miyawaki Karin (Tokyo)

Ueno Yūka (Hita)

Emura Misaki (Ōita Ichi)

Fukushima Shihomi (Munakata)

Takashima Risa (Ōmuta)

Ozaki Seri (Sapporo)

Field hockey

Nakamura Eika (Tochigi)

Asai Yū (Hiroshima)

Suzuki Miyu (Gifu Ichi)

Nagai Yuri (Kakamigahara)

Nagai Hazuki (Kakamigahara)

Oikawa Shihori (Tokyo)

Kozuka Miki (Nikko)

Kobayakawa Shiho (Matsue)

Mori Kanon (Hiroshima)

Toriyama Mai (Tokyo)

Tanaka Saki (Morika)

Urata Kana (Osaka)

Shimada Amiru (Ōtsu)

Omoto Sakurako (Iwakuni)

Hasegawa Miyu (Matsue)

Ogawa Rika (Gifu Ichi)

Golf

Matsuyama Hideki (Sendai)

Nakajima Keita (Saitama Ichi)

Yamashita Miyū (Neyagawa)

Sasō Yūka (San Ildefonso, The Philippines)

Gymnastics

Hashimoto Daiki (Chiba Ichi)

Kazuma Kaya (Funabashi)

Oka Shinnosuke (Kamakura Ichi)

Sugino Takaaki (Kamakura Ichi)

Tanigawa Wataru (Funabashi)

Nishioka Ryusei (Higashiosaka)

Kishi Rina (Toda)

Nakamura Haruka (Osaka)

Okamura Mana (Yokkaichi)

Ushioku Kohane (Nagoya)

Mori Hikaru (Tokyo)

Handball

Nakamura Takumi (Fukuoka Ichi)

Yasuhira Kosuke (Takaoka)

Sakurai Tomoya (Mito)

Okomoto Daisuke (Yamaguchi)

Fujisaka Naoki (Fukui)

Takano Sota (Tokyo)

Sugioka Naoki (Kariya)

Yoshida Shūichi (Wakayama Ichi)

Adam Baig (Fukuoka Ichi)

Tokuda Shinnosuke (Iwakuni)

Watanabe Jin (Ōita)

Motoki Shida (Mito)

Tamakawa Hiroyasu (Tokyo)

Yoshino Tatsuki (Misato)

Judo

Nagayama Ryuju (Bibai)

Abe Hifumi (Kobe)

Hashimoto Soichi (Tokyo)

Nagase Takanori (Mito)

Murao Sanshirō (Tokyo)

Aaron Wolf (Tokyo)

Saito Tatsuru (Osaka)

Tsunoda Natsumi (Yachiyo)

Abe Uta (Kobe)

Funakobu Haruka (Fujiyoshida)

Tashiro Takaichi (Tokyo)

Niizoe Saki (Kashihara)

Takayama Rika (Tokyo)

Sone Akira (Kurume)

Pentathlon

Satō Taishū (Aomori Ichi)

Uchida Misaki (Kumagaya)

Rowing

Furutu Naoki (Tottori)

Miyaura Masayuki (Mito)

Arakawa Ryūta (Yokohama)

Hirouchi Emi (Kyoto)

Ōishi Ayama (Nagoya)

Rugby

Ishida Taiga (Kumamoto)

Ishida Kippei (Amagasaki)

Tsuoka Shotaro (Fukuoka Ichi)

Matsumoto Junya (Kagoshima)

Josua Kerevi (Viseisei, Fiji)

Fukushi Moeki (Hyogo)

Taninaka Kippei (Hyogo)

Noguchi Yoshihiro (Tokyo)

Ueda Kazuma (Hyogo)

Maruo Takamasa (Tokyo)

Okudaira Yu (Hyogo)

Koga Yoshiyuki (Tokyo)

Yoshizawa Taichi (Tokyo)

Utsumi Hanako (Yokohama)

Ōtani Mei (Kyoto)

Kajiki Marin (Fukuoka Ichi)

Saegusa Chiaki (Sapporo)

Tanaka Emii (Uozu Ichi)

Tsutsumi Honoka (Ureshino)

Nakamura Chiharu (Yokohama)

Nishi Arisa (Tokyo)

Hara Wakaba (Niigata Ichi)

Hirano Yume (Tokyo)

Matsuda Rinka (Fuchu)

Mizutani Sakura (Mie)

Sailing

Tomizawa Makoto (Kashiwazaki)

Okada Keiju (Kitakyushu)

Iitsuka Shibuki (Yokohama)

Tanaka Misaki (Higashiura)

Nagamatsu Sera (Ōita Ichi)

Oura Nishida-Capiglia (Mie)

Yoshioka Miho (Fujisawa)

Shooting

Okada Naoya (Tsuyama)

Yoshioka Dai (Kyoto)

Nobata Misaki (Ōita Ichi)

Skateboarding

Nagahara Yuro (Hakuba)

Onodero Gin'u (Yokohama)

Shirai Sora (Sagamihara)

Horigome Yūto (Tokyo)

Hiraki Kokona (Tomakomai)

Yosozumi Sakura (Iwade)

Kusaki Hinano (Tsukuba)

Yoshizawa Koko (Sagamihara)

Akama Rizu (Sendai)

Nakayama Fūna (Toyama Ichi)

Soccer

Leo Kokuba (Chiba Ichi)

Suzuki Kaito (Shizuoka Ichi)

Nishio Ryūya (Osaka)

Sekine Hiroki (Shizuoka Ichi)

Kimura Seiji (Chiba Ichi)

Kawasaki Sota (Kōfu)

Yamamoto Rihito (Yokohama)

Joel Chima-Fujita (Tokyo)

Fujio Shota (Osaka)

Saitō Kōki (Tokyo)

Hosoya Mao (Ushiku)

Nozawa Taishi (Naha)

Araki Ryotaro (Kumamoto Ichi)

Mito Shunsuke (Yamaguchi Ichi)

Takai Kota (Yokohama)

Ōhata Ayumu (Fukuoka Ichi)

Hirakawa Yu (Kashima)

Keiji Sato (Tokyo)

Uenaka Asahi (Fukuoka Ichi)

Yamada Fuki (Minakuchi)

Uchino Takashi (Chiba Ichi)

Yamashita Ayaka (Tokyo)

Hirao Chika (Matsudo)

Shimizu Risa (Kobe)

Minami Moeka (Yoshikawa)

Kumagai Saki (Sapporo)

Takahashi Hana (Kawaguchi)

Tōko Koga (Osaka)

Kitagawa Hikaru (Kanazawa)

Hasegawa Yui (Sendai)

Miyazawa Hinata (Minamiashigara)

Seike Kiko (Tokyo)

Nagano Fūka (Tokyo)

Momoko Tanikawa (Nagoya)

Fujino Aoba (Machida)

Hayashi Honoka (Uji)

Ueki Riko (Kawasaki)

Tanaka Mina (Kawasaki)

Hamano Maika (Takaishi)

Shū Ohba (Fujisawa)

Moriya Miyabi (Nara Ichi)

Ishikawa Rion (Akita Ichi)

Chiba Remina (Tsukuba)

Surfing

Inaba Reo (Ichinomiya)

Connor O'Leary (Cronulla, Australia)

Kanoa Igrashi (Huntington Beach, California)

Matsuda Shino (Yokohama)

Swimming

Matsuyama Riku (Saitama Ichi)

Takehara Hidekazu (Munekata)

Taniguchi Taku (Hyogo)

Terakado Genki (Mito)

Murasa Tatsuya (Nagoya)

Mano Hidenari (Yokohama)

Matsumoto Riku (Tokyo)

Minamide Taishin (Kainan)

Matsumoto Katsuhiro (Iwaki)

Watanabe Ippei (Tsukumi)

Hanaguruma Yu (Sakaide)

Mizunuma Naoki (Moka)

Honda Tomoru (Yokohama)

Seto Daiya (Moroyama)

Matsushita Tomoyuki (Utsonomiya)

Kanagimoto Kōnosuke (Imari)

Higa Moe (Hiroshima)

Kobayashi Uta (Nagano)

Shimada Ayano (Mie)

Wada Ami (Nagano)

Yasunaga Mashiro (Tochigi)

Sato Tomoka (Tsukuba)

Kijima Moeka (Hakusan)

Yoshida Megumu (Nagoya)

Ebina Airi (Sapporo)

Matsumoto Shiho (Shizuoka Ichi)

Hirai Mizuki (Kariya)

Ikee Rikako (Tokyo)

Suzuki Satomi (Onga)

Aoki Reona (Tokyo)

Tanigawa Ageha (Osaka)

Narita Mio (Tokyo)

Kobori Waka (Nara Ichi)

Mitsui Airi (Yokohama)

Makino Hiroko (Tokyo)

Ōhashi Yui (Hikone)

Igarashi Chihiro (Yokohama)

Shirai Rio (Takarazuka)

Ikemoto Nagisa (Nara Ichi)

Masuda Aoi (Kurashiki)

Table tennis

Shinozuka Hiroto (Nagoya)

Harimoto Tomokazu (Sendai)

Togami Shunsuke (Tsu)

Hayata Hina (Kitakyushu)

Hirano Miu (Numazu)

Harimoto Miwa (Sendai)

Tennis

Nishikori Kei (Bradenton, Florida)

Taro Daniel (Bradenton, Florida)

Naomi Osaka (Los Angeles, California)

Uchijima Moyuka (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia)

Aoyama Shūko (Osaka)

Ena Shibahara (Rancho Palos Verdes, California)

Triathlon

Kenji Nener (Perth, Australia)

Odakura Makoto (Tokyo)

Takahashi Yūko (Mitaka)

Volleyball

Nishida Yūji (Inabe)

Ōnodera Taishi (Natori Ichi)

Fukatsu Akihiro (Hiroshima)

Miyaura Kento (Kumamoto Ichi)

Ōtsuka Tatsunori (Osaka)

Yamauchi Akihiro (Aichi Ichi)

Sekita Masahiro (Tokyo)

Takahashi Kentarō (Yamagata)

Takahashi Ran (Kyoto)

Yūki Ishikawa (Okazaki)

Kai Masato (Tokyo)

Yamamoto Tomohiro (Ebetsu)

Uchida Akiko (Tokyo)

Ishii Miki (Fujisawa)

Kojima Manami (Sendai)

Fukudome Satomi (Tokyo)

Araki Ayaka (Tokyo)

Wada Yukiko (Tokyo)

Tominaga Koyomi (Komae)

Hayashi Kotona (Osaka)

Sarina Koga (Saga Ichi)

Mayu Ishikawa (Okazaki)

Nanami Seki (Funabashi)

Inoue Arisa (Maizuru)

Nichika Yamada (Nagoya)

Miyabe Airi (Kobe)

Water polo

Watanabe Taiyo (Kyoto)

Ogihara Daichi (Kagoshima)

Kai Inoue (Los Angeles, California)

Date Kiyomu (Osaka)

Nitta Ikkei (Kanazawa)

Nishimura Towa (Kyoto)

Tanamura Katsuyuki (Ishigaki)

Adachi Seiya (Kakamigahara)

Suzuki Toi (Yamagata)

Takata Mitsuru (Hiroshima)

Inaba Yūsuke (Toyama)

Ōkawa Keigo (Tsuchiura)

Araki Kenta (Fukuoka Ichi)

Weightlifting

Miyamoto Masanori (Naha)

Murakami Eishiro (Toyama Ichi)

Suzuki Rira (Shiroi)

Wrestling

Sogabe Kyotaro (Matsuyama)

Higuchi Rei (Ibaraki Ichi)

Kiyooka Kotaro (Kōchi Ichi)

Takatani Daichi (Kyōtango)

Ishiguru Hayato (Tokyo)

Fumita Ken'ichirō (Kōfu)

Kusaka Nao (Takamatsu)

Susaki Yui (Matsudo)

Fujinami Akari (Yokkaichi)

Sakurai Tsugumi (Kōchi Ichi)

Motoki Sakura (Saitama Ichi)

Ozaki Nonoka (Tokyo)

Kagami Yuka (Yamagata Ichi)

[nicomrade]

i didnt read nearly as much this year (2023) compared to last, i mostly re-read my faves that ill maybe post about one day and i read non-fiction from libraries. I am a Communist by Park Kun-Woong and Ichi-F by Kazuto Tatsuta are the two that id say stood out the most in that regard, but i kinda wanna keep these retrospective posts to fiction only so lets go for my actual 6 picks naow

Poison City - Tetsuya Tsutsui (2014-2015) opening with my favorite author, poison city is about art censorship- specifically of mangas in japanese libraries- how it happens, why, by and for whom, who it affects, how it shapes the publishing industry and so on. it was written after tsutsui found out his own work (manhole) had been banned in a prefecture, without him ever being notified. its only 2 volumes but the most nuanced discussion of the topic ive seen. like all tsutsui work it is in my brain forever like a worm and if i see it IRL i get an urge to reread it right there right now. which happens often cuz french libraries (justifiably!) love it

Gekiga-Yose: Fallen Words - Tatsumi Yoshihiro (2009) i got into a little gekiga rabbithole sometime last spring that segued really nicely into a rakugo moment for me. Fallen Words is neatly at the junction of the two and maybe the best way to experience rakugo stories if you cant watch performances? its not rakugo but it tries really hard to make the original jokes work in a new medium. fascinating project that i really enjoyed and laughed outloud at while reading. it also helps other rakugo-based fiction have more context and depth for a non-rakugo liker audience

Blood on the Tracks / Chi no Wadachi - Oshimi Shuzo (2017-2023) "this is not a work that wants to teach you how to heal, how to cope, or give you catharsis, or tragedy." chi no wadachi is about parental abuse and keeps to following the protagonist for as long as his mom has influence over his life, in all of the ways that she does, and nothing more. its heavy, its hard, and its something you need to meet halfway. not the oshimi shuzo work id necessarily start with but its the one i read fully this year and also the one i got into comment fights on mangadex about lol

Billy Bat - Naoki Urasawa & Nagasaki Takashi (2008-2016) billy bat is about art and its about making art and its about what if there was a bat on the moon that gave you catharsis. its got historical fiction its got protagonist changes its got walt disney its got an insane amount of historical research put in. its got two bats. its art as an universal language, as something its artist owns but that also belongs to everyone who's ever connected with it, art as the root of humanity, as the lense through which people view and shape the world. and its about a japanese-american artist named kevin.

Bokurano: Ours - Kitoh Mohiro (2003-2009) bokurano is about kids who are roped into a mecha war for earth's survival. it questions whether you can live without harming others, the nature of remorse, childhood trauma, and so on. its dubiously a death game- i count it as one but its also explicitely interested in this very question- "is this a game?". is bullying a game? Is csa a game? Is parental abuse a game? Neglect? Sibling violence? War? Is that what a game is? anything that children do?

Undercurrent - Toyoda Tetsuya (2004-2005) its easy to say reading undercurrent feels like youre drowning because the water motif is already omnipresent but this really is a piece where the story and the artistic motif are just in symbiose. undercurrent explores one woman's life managing her bathhouse almost on her own at the same time as she's dealing with more personal issues, and my first instinct upon seeing the cover is always to hold my breath. cannot say anymore just read it

+ bonus mention to Gantz - Hiroya Oku (2000 - 2013) for ruining my whole life. i didnt start it in 2023 but i was overcome by some sort of fever in january that made me finish this fucking manga and it hasn't left me since. don't read gantz. you can watch the live action movies they cut out 95% of the manga and make it actually good also akagi's actor (kanata hongo) plays my fave character in them. but whatever you do, don't read gantz.

[jaygerland]

Liked on YouTube: Akira Ito ‎(伊藤詳) - Marine Flowers (Science Fantasy) (1986) FULL ALBUM - Green & Water ‎– R28X-1003 (Japan, 1986) https://ift.tt/ou1IJgL 00:00 A1. 序章 華やぎ / Prologue, Into The Beauty 12:55 A2. 水色の聖地 / W・A・T・E・R 18:06 A3. 気の舞い / Dancing Spirits 21:04 A4. 精美 / Essence Of Beauty 25:54 B1. 神がみの遊び / Where Spirits Play 26:57 B2. 祈り / Prayer 38:53 B3. 生生流転 / Life Goes On 42:31 B4. 終章 青き久遠 / Epilogue, Out Of Endless Blue Producer, Composed By, Arranged By, Synthesizer, Electric Bass, A. Piano, Percussion, Engineer, Mixed By – Akira Ito Oboe – Heitaro Manabe Percussion – Izaba Saxophone – Koichiro Kami E. Violin – Takashi Toyoda Vocals – Mineko Soundtrack to the Laser Disc of the same name. There is a time in any good musician’s life when they absolutely nail down whatever they had to place. Akira Ito, one time keyboardist for influential Japanese psych rock outfit The Far East Band, could have stayed with that group rehashing “out there” musical troupes – variations on psychedelia with The FABs or Kitaro-like, Jean-Michel Jarre-aping electro-prog as in his early, solo career – or he could, you know, grow the hell up, and accept that music evolves, and so must he. There’s only so much Ummagumma aping one can do in a lifetime. That’s what makes Marine Flower his first release under his own Green & Water record label truly interesting. It shows his shift to a particular electronic aesthetic that his country was cultivating at the time. Marine Flower (Science Fantasy) was far more minimal and exploratory than anything he’d ever done before. It appeared that Akira was taking influence from German elektronic kosmische music of Cluster, Manuel Göttsching, and Neu and trying to chisel it down through a Japanese aesthetic – essentially using the more holistic, environmentally conscious, spacial aware ideas of other Japanese electronic New Age artists like Hiroshi Yoshimura etc. as a sifter/filter to temper the influence of that kind of music. It was/is a beautiful set of electronic mood music with meditative overtones of nostalgia, comfort, and sweetness for good reason. Album highlight “Essence of Beauty” puts all these feelings of aware reflection into full view. Essentially written as part of a musical series called “Music For Inochi”/Music for Life on his label, each album in this series attempted to carry along intently a specific mood. Water-based music, forest-based music, macro-life music like Yumiko Morioka’s Resonance – simple ideas that took all those far out, less inviting, explorations into far more personal and focused pieces. Although Marine Flower (Science Fantasy) was meant for the New Age market, it ventures far outside the genre. Drum machines, saxophones, electric violin, and all sorts of assorted mallet percussion find ways to make their presence felt in what really is supposed to be a set of percolating “floating” synthesizer music. Not entirely perfect – but what is? – it does have so much to offer as another important piece in this whole structure of Japanese electronic music we’re uncovering (with our Western ears) piecemeal.

[olivermspecialistpractice]

Youth Rage in Japan

A massive influence on the film All About Lily Chou-Chou is the influx of something called youth rage.

Taking a look into these articles that address these issues first hand will allow me to understand and possibly put together a target audience.

Why is bullying so vicious in Japanese schools?

A report released by the Japanese education ministry on October 25 shows that cases of bullying in schools have reached a record high. And the real figure is likely to be even higher, experts warn, as many children are too frightened to come forward and denounce their tormentors.

Recorded incidents of bullying in private and public schools across Japan, from elementary school through senior high schools, were as high as 414,378 in the academic year to March 31, 2018. That figure was up steeply from the previous year, rising by more than 91,000 cases.

Fully 474 cases were determined to be "serious," up 78 incidents on the previous year, and 55 were classified as involving "life-threatening harm." Of the 250 pupils who committed suicide during the school year, authorities were able to conclusively rule that 10 children had been bullied at school; those findings were usually the result of a note being left by the child.

"Japan has always had a problem with bullying in schools, but it seems to me that there have been more children committing suicide that have been linked to bullying, and I think that has made this a bigger issue for schools, for education authorities and the government," said Mieko Nakabayashi, a professor in the school of social studies at Waseda University.

"They are under far more pressure than before to carry out thorough investigations now," she told DW. "These cases are becoming more documented and reported, which may account for the increase in cases, but it is clear that more efforts need to be made to tackle this issue."

SCHOOLBOY "KNIFE RAGE":  Violence Among Young Teens Is on the Rise

According to a survey by the Ministry of Education, violence at school became a social problem during the early 1980s, when the reported rate of incidence of violent acts among all middle and high schools was over 10%. The figure fell below 10% during the late 1980s and early 1990s, but it began rising again in 1994. During the 1996 school year (April 1996 to March 1997) there was a 17.7% rate of incidence at Japan's middle schools, which reported 8,169 cases of violence, an increase of 37.2% from the previous year, and a 22.0% rate of incidence at high schools, where there were 2,406 violent incidents, a 15.8% increase.

The recent spate of knife crimes is part of this growing trend of youth violence. Blade-related incidents began rising last year, revealing a shift to more lethal expressions of rage. 

In the recent knife attacks, the aggressors seem to have lost their sense of self-restraint, suggesting there is no limit to the injury they can cause others. Many teachers point out that Japanese youths today have fewer outlets to vent their emotions, as ties of friendship have weakened. The educators say that these youths often "snap" when anything slightly harsh is said to them.

How Japan’s 90s teen delinquency crisis inspired a wave of killer movies

For a society as deeply competitive as Japan’s, the prospect of record-high unemployment proved catastrophic for the youth.

As employment rates for universities sunk to just 66 per cent by 1998, children found themselves no longer able to meet the standards set by their parents. Schools became increasingly violent as bullying turned rife. Arrests of minors for serious crimes doubled. And heinous cases such as the 1997 Kobe Child Murdersdominated news headlines. In a 1999 study, the New York Times concluded that “Japan’s Troubling Trend (of) Rising Teen-Age Crime” was a byproduct of the country’s single-minded industriousness; “the gutting of family life and playtime in the name of workplace performance and school achievement.”

“We have to make movies that appeal (to younger audiences) and reflect the world they’re living in,” said director Shinji Iwai in 1995.

What we can understand from this research, specifically from the last sauce is that the youths of Japan at the time struggled, a lot and within this struggle they had no way to express their feelings and understand what was going on with them. Writer and director of 'All About Lily Chou-Chou' Shine Iwai understood the issues the youths were facing and came up to the plate to address these issues within film and in a way to inform the children that its okay to have these feelings its normal whilst informing the adults that the youths are struggling.

[thesunlounge]

Takashi Toyoda - Snow (from Big Bang, Sound of Tranquility / Nexus 1985)

[tiny-design]

The core principles of Sonic Heroes’ level design is built around allowing core moments of divergence and convergence based on the currently active character. While each character on the player’s team have individual Speed, Power, and Flight abilities, the level design smartly creates points where the player can choose to approach a given sub-section of the level with 2-3 different primary routes based on those abilities (divergence), with later sections bringing the player back onto a set path that requires each of the character’s specific abilities to complete a single given section where no choice of path is available (convergence).

[jsound]

豊田勇造, 長野隆『ある朝高野交差点近くを兎が飛んだ』

[asianhappinesss]

Crows Explode (2014)

Summary

A month later. Genji Takiya has graduated. New fights begin to see who will climb to the top at Suzuran High School. Meanwhile, a battle against nearby Kurosaki Industrial High School begins.

Review

Despite the absence of Miike, Oguri Shun, Yamada Takayuki and the rest of the amazing crew, I never actually held previous prejudices on Crows Explode. But after viewing it, I can clearly state that it falls behind compared to its prequels. Being a fan of Miike’s filmmaking, it was unavoidable to miss the highlighted foolish characterization, extreme violence and hilarious black humour inserted everywhere. That being said, I never expected Toyoda to do the same. After all, two different directors have entirely dissimilar way of making their pictures. Crows Explode leaned to the realistic side way too much which was a bit wrong in my opinion; don’t get the wrong idea, immersing the characters and fighting scenes in realism didn’t sound like a bad treat but when it’s over-done with this type of film then things are bound to become bothersome. To make things clear, this film had too many similarities with its famed prequels. The fight to become Suzuran’s top leader was still used as the main thread to drive the plot. However, the fighting sequences to reach that objective were surprisingly demure and repetitive in a worrisome way. Although Toyoda tried to focus on the human emotions between his characters, he didn’t exploit his main leads’ potential to the fullest. Thus, many feelings couldn’t get pass the screen barrier to reach the watcher’s heart. Crows Explode narrative pattern was composed of several side stories that didn’t serve any meaning at times. At the matter of fact, few of them were just used to fill the running time instead of building characters’ back stories. To some extent, most of them were heavy to watch especially with the obvious lack of fighting scenes; they became utterly irrelevant to the film’s development. Let’s not forget the near-disappearance of black humour – which I clearly don’t blame Toyoda for it. The last fighting sequence wasn’t blowing but it delivered a nice punch after all. The entirely different cast is worrisome, isn’t it? I know that many people can’t imagine the “Crows” without Oguri Shun and Yamada Takayuki on top of them. I am a big fan of those two actors myself but shockingly, their disappearance didn’t make me feel bad. I did want them to be in here but the new faces weren’t bad at all. Led by raising stars like Higashide and Yagira, the acting department did the trick for the lack of better words. Some actors didn’t convince me much but I can’t put all the blame on them, the way their characters’ were written didn’t allow them to show a wide range of emotions or action. The cinematography was trying to be the same as the two Crows Zero but it didn’t come out that way, I believe the yellowish atmosphere is the film’s way of distinguishing itself from the others. The musical note was the same so there's nothing to complain about in that department. The directing style and the setting of fighting sequences are debatable but Toyoda made sure to leave his mark which is more than enough to respect a director. Watch if: -You like both Crows Zero but make sure to watch this with an open mind. -You like school fighting. Do not watch if: -You’re looking for a “copy-paste” version of Takashi Miike’s prequels. Crows Explode had its own touch of filmmaking but the serious realistic depiction that Toyoda decided to use didn’t come out entirely right, just like it wasn’t entirely wrong. Due to its entirely different pattern, this sequel should be viewed for its own merits, comparing it to Miike’s Crows will only make it harder to watch and judge.

[photobigbang]

takashi toyoda - snow

[cordycepsspore]

Takashi Toyoda: Solar System

[gotojobin]

#機動戦士ガンダム鉄血のオルフェンズ #機動戦士ガンダム #鉄血のオルフェンズ #Gundam #ガンダム #MobileSuitGundamIronBloodedOrphans #MobileSuitGundamBloodedOrphansOfIronBlood #MobileSuitGundam #BloodedOrphansOfIronBlood #Gundam #KidōSenshiGandamuTekketsuNoOrufenzu #GundamIBO #GTekketsu #Gの鉄血 #KingDevinJoseph #キングデビンジョセフ #おたく #Otaku #オタク #GotoJobin #後藤Jobin #デヴィンジョセフ王 #Weeb #WeebDar #王デヴィンジョセフ 1. Episode 44 The Man With the Soul Broadcast date:2017/2/19 In response to the coup, the Arianrod fleet, led by Rasahrer Elion, was trying to bring the whole squad together. Screenwriter: Mari Okada, Master Higuchi Storyboard: Susumu Nishizawa, Kazuki Akane Director: Ikeno Shoji Character Animation Director: Takashi Shiokawa, Akiko Toyoda, Yukihito Ohgo, Naoko Nakamoto Mechanic Animation Director: Shinya Kuhisayoneki Character Animation Director Cooperation: Nagisa Nakajima, Kaori Saito. 2. Episode 44 Broadcast date: 2017/2/19 The Allian Rod fleet, led by Rastal Elion against the coup, was trying to bring the whole unit together. Screenplay: Mari Okada, Tatsuto Higuchi Storyboard: Satoshi Nishizawa, Kazuki Akane Director: Shoji Ikeno Character drawing director: Takashi Shiokawa, Atsuko Toyoda, Norihito Otsuki, Naoko Nakamoto Mechanic drawing director: Shinya Kumegi Character drawing director cooperation: Atsushi Nakajima, Kaori Saito. https://www.instagram.com/p/B0zUSfSHuVJWRjOsGk6jA40lU2URmrLufOWk-E0/?igshid=1m1key06cjby4

[seychermanium]

Arslan: The Warriors of Legend OST Download

Contains 2 discs (folders), correctly tagged and organized. Ripped from a YouTube playlist. 

Highest quality possible. They also have their respective composer tagged. I had to recreate the cover, since I couldn't find the original in a highest quality. I'm honestly disappointed with the fact that they apparently didn't create more artwork for the game, and this is the only image used for everything (game cover, OST cover, manual cover, Treasure Box (limited edition) cover..), but I had to maintain consistency with the original product.

The great mayority have their "official" english name from VGMDB, while Beneath the Royal Palace is named after its title in the game's official translation (because I prefer that title).

TRACKLIST

Disc 1

01 - Opening - Masato Koike 02 - Title Screen - Masato Koike 03 - Main Menu - Masato Koike 04 - Free Mode - Masato Koike 05 - Atropatene  - Masato Koike 06 - Ecbatana - Yosuke Kinoshita 07 - Beneath the Royal Palace - Ayako Toyoda 08 - Mount Basur - Ayako Toyoda 09 - Fortress - Ippo Igarashi 10 - Plains - Ayako Toyoda 11 - Peshawar -Ayako Toyoda 12 - Night Attack - Ayako Toyoda 13 - Sindhura - Ippo Igarashi 14 - Zabul Fortress - Ippo Igarashi 15 - Gujarat Fortress - Ayako Toyoda 16 - Duel Before the Gods - Ayako Toyoda 17 - One-to-One Fight - Ayako Toyoda 18 - Hilmes' Silvermask's Theme - Ayako Toyoda 19 - Mardān Rush 1 - Yosuke Kinoshita 20 - Mardān Rush 2 - Masato Koike 21 - Charge - Masato Koike 22 - Decisive Battle - Masato Koike

Disc 2 01 - Overture - Ayako Toyoda 02 - Superiority - Yosuke Kinoshita 03 - Inferiority - Yosuke Kinoshita 04 - A Close Call - Yosuke Kinoshita 05 - March - Yosuke Kinoshita 06 - Assault - Yosuke Kinoshita 07 - Overpower - Yosuke Kinoshita 08 - Fierce Battle - Yosuke Kinoshita 09 - Secrecy - Yosuke Kinoshita 10 - Reclaim Battle - Yosuke Kinoshita 11 - Event - Dark - Takashi Yoshida 12 - Event - Bright - Takashi Yoshida 13 - Event - Ominous - Takashi Yoshida 14 - Event - War Council -Takashi Yoshida 15 - Event - Battle - Takashi Yoshida 16 - Event - Clash - Takashi Yoshida 17 - Event - Sudden Turn - Takashi Yoshida 18 - Defeat - Masato Koike 19 - Results Display - Masato Koike 20 - Song of the Djinn - Masato Koike 21 - Gallery - Masato Koike 22 - Encyclopedia - Masato Koike

Game developed by KoeiTecmo. Please support them by buying the game and Treasure Box for the OST. The Heroic Legend of Arslan was written by Yoshiki Tanaka. Desgins made by Hiromu Arakawa.

I don't own anything.

Download.

[austrisk]

Tokyo Concept Car Aims To Fend Off Dents With External Airbag

Tokyo Concept Car Aims To Fend Off Dents With External Airbag

A concept car equipped with external airbags to protect against fender benders is raising eyebrows at the Tokyo Motor Show. The body panels of the Flesby II ultra-compact vehicle are covered by a soft¸ next-generation rubber that can absorb the impact of a collision. “We put airbags¸ which are mainly employed inside the car¸ on its exterior¸ such as its hood or fender¸ to protect the entire…

[extranoir]

(Extra Noir - Episode 49)

Takashi Toyoda - Sky

Influenza Prods - Pretty City

The Legendary Pink Dots - Sleso

Thick Pigeon - Dog

Schleimer K - Hang Ups

Corneil Nies - Il Canale Occidentale

The Comateens - Nightmare

Neo Museum - Ethno Music

Caroline K - Don’t Believe It’s Over

Sault - Red Lights

Liquid Liquid - Scraper

Eyes of God - Secret Life 

Honey Bane - Guilty Dub

George Harrasment - Re-Entry

Desert Corbusier - Cute Little Hamster

Magic de Spell - Run Fast Kiss the Mirror

Shazam - Let’s Get Together

[jphilspace]

takashi toyoda - snow